Tour Leader: Bradley Davis
Tour Leader: Bruno Renno
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Tour price (Per person): GBP2,073 * EUR2,502 * AUD4,175 * USD2,600
Can be linked with: Brazil - Madeira & Tapajós - Endemics of the Rio Aripuanã 2026
Nowhere inspires more awe and wonder at the raw beauty of remote nature like the Amazon Basin of South America. Pioneered by Major Candido Rondon de Silva, explorations in this region of Brazil became the stuff of legend, as Rondon enabled the first telegraph line and subsequently the first road, to cross the Brazilian Amazon. He discovered numerous indigenous groups, named several major rivers, and is hailed by many Brazilians as one of the true heroes of Brazil’s native people and lands.
Our short extension to Acre is the perfect complement to our tour to Pousada PiraAçu, giving us an extra opportunity at finding Rondonia Bushbird, as well as a good number of low-density species restricted to the terra firme and bamboo forests of southwestern Amazonia.
Blue-headed Macaw; Rufous-headed Woodpecker; White-throated Jacamar; Black-faced Cotinga; Bamboo Antshrike; Bluish-slate Antshrike; Goeldi’s Antbird; Ornate Stipplethroat; Bamboo (Ihering’s) Antwren; Yellow-breasted Warbling-Antbird; Striated, Riparian & Manu Antbirds; Rufous Twistwing; Long-crested Pygmy-Tyrant; Acre Tody-Tyrant; Flammulated Bamboo-Tyrant; White-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher; Rufous-breasted & Fine-barred Piculets; Yellow-billed Nunbird; Lemon-throated Barbet; Southern Emerald Toucanet; Black-capped Parakeet; Peruvian Recurvebill; Sulphur-bellied Tyrant-Manakin; White-rumped Sirystes; Black-and-white Tanager.
varzea forest, Beni savannah, white sand forests, cerrado, small oxbow lakes, seasonally flooded areas, mixed terra firme forest, patches of slender bamboo, wide floodplains, transitional forests, upland terra firme and hilly terra firme forest
temperatures are warm to very hot with high humidity
8 with 1 local birding leader
moderate pace, some longer walks
good to very good
moderate with numerous challenging species
average to good
We really appreciated our trip. Our Rockjumper guide, Bobby Wilcox, and the local guides were awesome; always on the lookout for new birds and other animals, even on the long drives. The organization was flawless, the lodges were great and perfectly located. Our triplist and lifers goals were exceeded! The group was great and always well controlled by Bobby. Very well done! Our long sighting of a female jaguar was certainly the peak of this trip !!!
Overall we were very pleased with the trip. We have been to the tropics in various places in SA but hadn’t really experienced the heat of the Amazon. At first I was concerned about the siesta in early afternoon and the loss of bird time but by the third day I looked forward to it!! The lack of ant swarms, foliage-gleaners and mixed foraging flocks was disappointing. Some of the key target species had not been seen by local guides for several months to over a year. We hope it is not an on-going trend due to climate change but it may be. We felt fortunate to have had the opportunity and hope that others can continue to have this experience. We were pleased with the “tag-team effort” by Tuomas and Bradley. They worked well together with making sure the logistics flowed, everyone had their needs met as much as possible, and kept the pace moving. We were fortunate to have 8 people that had all travelled in groups before and were tolerant of various personalities and their strengths and weaknesses. Both Tuomas and Bradley were patient and talented in getting everyone (usually) in the group to see the target species. I will be giving a presentation to the local Audubon Chapter in November and will be recommending Rockjumper and their various trips to the group.
Guides - in addition to Tuomas we a great local guide - whose bird-finding skills were fully up to Rockjumper standards, so had all the resources needed to get us onto the birds. Highlight of the trip was undoubtedly birding in comfort and style on the river cruise section. Being paddled in a canoe through flooded varzea forest must be the height of birding luxury. Land-based sections of the tour were also rewarding despite the inevitable heat and chiggers (fortunately minimal rain). Overall a very satisfying tour, with more lifers for me than on a longer trip to Colombia in 2019 that also included Amazonian habitat on the Vaupes River. A great bunch of people too.
We had an unbelievably great tour. ALL the guides were extraordinary and fun to be around. They went out of their way to provide us non-birders with very interesting, novel activities. We all enjoyed seeing all the wildlife - it was beyond expectations. The 50th anniversary surprise was an unexpected, delightful treat. We don't know how the tour could have been any better.
I had the very best time on tour with Stephan. He is an excellent leader and a lovely, kind human being. In terms of his technical ability as a birding leader, his eyesight and hearing skills are excellent, which coupled with his first class fieldcraft and ID skills, meant that we saw/heard over 500 species during our tour. He also gelled well with the local guide Caio , so that in terms of finding, IDing and showing the birds to the group, we were treated to splendid views of our target species plus many many 'bonus birds' too. Stephan was also very patient with group members, some of whom for a variety of personal reasons, were less able to see the birds than the majority of the group-so that wherever possible-every group member who wanted to, had the opportunity to see every bird.
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